A timeline for the potential re-opening of the Strait of Hormuz remains uncertain today. But there is a new development on a crude oil shipment that has made its way to the Asia Pacific.
For the first time since February, a Japanese tanker carrying crude oil through the Strait of Hormuz has arrived in Japan.
Japanese media report that a tanker belonging to the country's second-largest oil refiner docked around noon local time Monday, off the coast of Aichi prefecture, a couple of hundred miles from Tokyo.
Kyodo News reports the tanker loaded 2 million barrels of crude in Saudi Arabia in March.
After initially being blocked, it was allowed to pass through the Strait of Hormuz in late April.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi says that followed a personal appeal she made to the Iranian president. This is the first oil shipment to reach Japan through the Persian Gulf since the Iran war began.
A second tanker has passed the Strait of Hormuz and is expected to arrive in the next several weeks. Before the war in Iran, more than 90% of Japan's oil imports came through the Strait of Hormuz.
Japan's chief cabinet secretary says there are 39 other Japan-related vessels still stranded in the Persian Gulf.
And those two million barrels of crude oil that just arrived? According to industry estimates, that represents 60 to 80% of Japan's domestic oil consumption every day.
